"You Put The Lime In The Coconut And Call Me In The Morning." Thai Roast Chicken Recipe

You know how when you're browsing

through magazines and a recipe catches

your interest.  So it gets stuck somewhere

in your subconscious and then when

you're at the store something reminds you

 of that recipe.  

I was at Costco, and saw the whole

chickens... which you have to purchase two of.

They reminded me that I wanted to try a

Thai roast chicken recipe.

So, I did purchase two whole

chickens which I haven't done in quite

awhile because it's just the two of us.

Individually frozen breast or thigh pieces

are a better deal for us since we don't necessarily

like eating chicken for three or four

 meals in a row from just one chicken.

 I went to another store intending

to purchase cilantro and cream of coconut,

and promptly forgot to look for

cream of coconut

after not finding it in the Thai food section.

  The red Thai chilies

completely skipped my mind.

~~~

Rick calls me before heading home

for the night after work.  He most always

asks if there's anything I need from down town.

This time I did have a request.

Cream of Coconut ~  and told him it probably

was in the liquor department.

So, he stopped at a regular upscale grocery store

 to find it because that expensive store happens to be on the way home

... and they didn't have it.

Even the ever so helpful clerk couldn't find it.

 The recipe didn't get tried that week.

Meanwhile,

we ate chicken for days and days...

So anyway,  the following week

we get the news that we're going to have

company.    I don't usually try new

recipes for company, but I made an exception

since I had willing victims  family members

to help eat up another chicken.

We found the cream of coconut at the

less expensive  ~ no customer service

type store.  I needed 1/2 cup of this

liquid gold ~ just saying it was expensive ~

and the can is a whopping 15 ounces.

After stirring the heavy thick solids

back into the rest of the creamy liquid,

and measuring out my 1/2 cup for the recipe,

I promptly tipped the rest of the can

over on the counter.... ack... That stuff

is expensive, so I scooped up what

spilled into a refrigerator container

and saved it for a few days.

  I added it to a recipe for coconut rice pudding.

Oh my gosh, was that ever good and

so was this chicken.

The coconut cream really moistened

the chicken and even the breast meat

stayed tender and moist.  I should have used

the red chilies as that bit of heat

would have been perfect I think.

Plus don't forget the salt.
It's needed to keep this from being too bland.

Next time I will skip using the two extra limes

that the chicken is supposed to roast on top of.

That seemed to be a waste to me.

 I'm also going to use a wire rack so the

chicken won't be stewing in it's

own juices so the speak.

Thai flavors probably aren't for everyone.

But just in case you want to experiment,

here's the recipe from Country Living magazine.

Thai Roast Chicken

serves 4

Working time 20 minutes

Total time 1 hour 45 minutes.

1/2 cup cream of coconut (such as Coco Goya)

Zest and juice of 2 limes;

plus 2 limes sliced.

1 bunch of fresh cilantro chopped (about 1 cup)

2 red chiles

(such as Thai bird's eye or chiles de arbol)

1 (3 1/4 pound) chicken

Salt 

( I'm pretty sure I forgot to add salt

as it wasn't listed with the ingredients.)

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Using a food processor, blend cream of coconut, lime zest and juice, cilantro, chiles, and one teaspoon salt to a smooth paste.  Starting at the chicken's neck, slide hands under skin to loosen skin on breasts and thighs.  With a sharp knife, slash each thigh twice.  Spread paste between loosened skin and meat.  Rub any extra paste into thighs.

2.  Lay lime slices on bottom  of  roasting pan and set prepared chicken on top.  Cover with foil and roast for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven, remove foil and baste chicken.  Return chicken to oven un covered, and roast basting occasionally, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of a thigh registers 165*F. 30 to 40 minutes more.  Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Here's the fine print that I didn't read before hand.

*** If cream of coconut's unavailable, substitute canned coconut milk.  Chill can for 30 minutes, then pour of the thinner liquid and use thick cream at bottom of can.

Have a great weekend! 

I'll be back with answers to questions

about Shasta Lake next week.

We're heading out the door

on our way to see a Lion Dance

to welcome in the Chinese New Year.

Since  Weaverville ~ the town we're heading to

is almost half way to the coast,

we've decided we might as well

go  all the way to Trinidad as well.

Woo Hoo!
Road trip time!,

and I remembered to charge the

battery in my camera.